JPS6118972A - Recording method using photoconductive toner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain images of high picture quality with high density by exposing a base electrode on which a conductive support electrode, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layer are laminated and forming a photoconductive toner image, and scattering image forming toner to a counter electrode with an AC bias containing a DC component. CONSTITUTION:Photoconductive toner A and carriers B are mixed and a sleeve 7 is rotated as shown by an arrow to form a toner layer while napping height is controlled 8, thus supplying the photoconductive toner A to the base electrode 1. The base electrode 1 consists of the conductive support electrode 1A, dielectric layer 1B, and conductive layer 1C and form a thin layer of the electrostatically charged photoconductive toner A on the surface. The toner A is charged 10 electrostatically according to the rotation of the base electrode 1, and part of the toner A loses a charge with a light signal 11 scanning on an original. The toner A moves until it faces the counter electrode 2 and only plus toner particles are scattered with a bias containing a DC voltage V1 and an AC voltage V2 to form a toner image on the counter electrode, thereby performing transfer 15 to a form 14. Thus, images of high picture quality with high density are copied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a recording method using a photoconductive toner, and particularly to a recording method preferably applied to an electrophotographic method in which an electrostatic image is formed using a photoconductive toner. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording method using a photoconductive toner that can be uniformly charged and can produce images of high density and high quality.

(Prior Art) In general, copying methods using electrophotographic technology include (1) an electrofax method in which copies are made directly onto electrophotographic photosensitive paper containing a zinc oxide-resin dispersion system, or (2) an electrophotographic photoreceptor such as selenium. One example is the xerography method, in which the obtained toner powder image is transferred to plain paper to obtain a copy.
Either method requires a development step using toner powder, making the electrophotographic copying apparatus complicated and expensive. In addition, in these methods, since the copying system is constituted by independent members such as the photoreceptor and toner powder, the performance of one of the two members mentioned above (1) For example, the charging characteristics due to optical fatigue of the photoreceptor When the photoreceptor and developer deteriorate, it becomes difficult to obtain high-quality copies, and maintenance becomes difficult because the photoreceptor and developer must always be maintained at a desired level of performance.

On the other hand, in order to overcome these drawbacks, a photoconductive toner has been developed in recent years that has the functions of both a photoreceptor and a developer.

Conventionally, the method of forming an image using such a photoconductive toner generally involved spreading the toner onto a base electrode such as a metal plate, charging and exposing the toner, and then removing the toner if necessary. A method is adopted in which the image is fixed later, or the image is transferred and then fixed.

In an image forming method using such a photoconductive toner,
It is extremely important to uniformly charge the toner spread on the base electrode.

It is known that this has a great influence on the final image.

Therefore, a method for uniformly charging photoconductive toner that has been uniformly dispersed has been desired.

On the other hand, when transferring the toner after exposure, a method is adopted in which only the toner that remains charged outside the light irradiation device is selectively transferred to the paper by applying a transfer corona with a polarity opposite to that of the toner charge. It was getting worse.

Therefore, the transfer characteristics change greatly due to changes in the moisture content of the 91 paper onto which the irradiated toner is transferred, making it difficult to obtain images with good gradation.
The disadvantage was that there was a lot of fog. Also, countermeasures such as using electrostatic recording paper can be considered, but this is not preferable because it increases the cost. For example, in JP-A-56-33664, JP-A-56-33665, and JP-A-JP-A-56-33665, DC voltage is used as bias voltage in the flight process.
Alternatively, an alternative technique for applying an alternating voltage has been described.

However, in the above technology, during development, toner particles that have absorbed light due to image exposure actually have a charge amount distribution, and simply applying a DC or AC bias voltage may not cause the toner particles to move to the counter electrode side. be. In this state, the positive toner image on the counter electrode is first transferred to a transfer material such as paper.

Due to the residual toner particles based on the above, there has been a problem in that only low-density images can be obtained and even zero image quality is likely to deteriorate.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording method using photoconductive toner that can be uniformly charged.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording method using photoconductive toner that can fly only a necessary and sufficient amount of toner in unexposed areas.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a recording method using photoconductive toner that can produce images of high density and high quality.

[Structure of the invention]

A recording method using a photoconductive toner according to the present invention includes forming a layer of a linear photoconductive toner together with a carrier or a photoconductive magnetic toner on a sleeve in a recording method such as an electrophotographic method using a photoconductive toner. , after transferring the charged photoconductive toner on the core sleeve onto a substrate electrode comprising a conductive support electrode, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layer in sequence to form a layer.

The photoconductive toner on the base electrode is charged, the photoconductive toner on the base electrode is imagewise exposed, and an AC bias voltage containing a DC component is applied to the toner in the unexposed area to cause it to fly onto the counter electrode to obtain a toner image. do. A recording method using photoconductive toner.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Note that this embodiment shows a case where the recording method according to the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic method.

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an endless base electrode that rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and 2 is in the same direction as the base electrode 1 or in the opposite direction (
In this embodiment, it is an endless counter electrode that rotates in the opposite direction. Both the base electrode 1 and the counter electrode 2 are made of conductive rolls or belts, and are arranged side by side at a predetermined interval.

The base electrode 1 has a structure in which a dielectric layer 1B and a conductive layer 1C are sequentially laminated on a conductive support electrode 1A, and a conductive layer IC.
is configured to be capable of forming either a conductive state or an insulating state.

The conductive support electrode 1A may be either a light-transmissive member or a non-transparent member, and the transparent member includes Nesa glass, which is formed by forming tin oxide on glass, and the non-transparent member includes: At% stainless steel, Or,
Mo, Au, etc. are used.

The vj electric layer 1B is not particularly limited as long as it exhibits a high dielectric constant and high insulation resistance, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polyethylene phthalate, polycarbonate, and polytetrafluoroethylene.

Polypropylene, cellulose triacetate, polyurethane, acrylic, silicone, melamine, polyester,
Resins such as vinyl and amino, mica, glass, steatite, 'rho2. An inorganic dielectric material such as BaTiO3 is preferably used3, and the thickness of the dielectric layer 1B is preferably 100 μm or more.

As the conductive layer 1C, metal etc. are mainly used.

The thickness is preferably several tens to several hundred amps, but may be more than that.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a scatterer provided on the outer periphery of the base electrode 1, which is shaped like a container with an upper lid 4 containing toner and a main body 5, has a magnet 6 inside, and rotates, for example, in the direction of the arrow, although not particularly limited thereto. A sleeve 7 is provided. Note that the magnet 6 may be rotated without rotating the sleeve 7, or the sleeve T and the magnet 6 may both be configured to rotate.

As shown in the figure, the magnets 6 can be arranged with N and S poles alternating. This can enhance the scattering effect.

The main body 5 is formed with an acute-angled ear cut portion 8, and the sleeve 7
The gap between the ear cutting part 8 and the ear cutting part 8 is formed so as to be adjustable.

For example, the gap can be adjusted by adjusting the fixing positions of the fixing portion 3A of the upper lid 4 and the main body 5.

Photoconductive toner A and carrier B supplied to the scatterer 3
is stirred in the sprinkler 3 to form a magnetic brush on the sleeve T, and the height of the ears is regulated by the ear cutting section 8 (transfer amount), thereby exhibiting the phenomenon of standing ears toward the base electrode 1. The figure shows a part of the ring as a model to explain the principle, and shows a state in which the gear rear B stands up on the sleeve 7 due to magnetic force.

Around this carrier B, for example, due to frictional electrification.

(2) Charged photoconductive toner A is attached by Coulomb force.

The photoconductive toner A near the tip of the spiked carrier is I
) The photoconductive toner flies onto the base electrode 1 charged to θ by applying a high bias potential of C, forming a uniform layer of photoconductive toner. This is because the electric attractive force from the base electrode 1 side is stronger than the Coulomb force between the photoconductive toner and the carrier B, which causes the toner to fly.

The toner dispersing means is not limited to the above, and may include, for example, not only a direct current (DO) potential, but also a direct current (DO) potential.

The photoconductive toner A may be caused to fly by being applied with an AC bias potential including a direct current (1) O) i position, or may be moved by magnetic friction contact. Furthermore, the base electrode 1 may be charged using a charger 9 (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 130357/1983). This allows for uniform dispersion.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a charging section, in which the photoconductive toner A uniformly dispersed by the scatterer 3 is charged by corona discharge, for example (2). At the time of main charging, the conductive layer 10 is in an insulating state. This is to prevent charge from escaping.

Further, in single-line charging, since the insulating dielectric layer IB is present, charges do not escape from the conductive layer 1C, so that charging can be performed satisfactorily and uniformly.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an exposure section 1, which applies a light source to, for example, a positive original on an original platen, and uses the reflected light (or transmitted light) to perform image exposure.

During exposure, the base electrode 1 is in an electrically conductive state. Therefore, if the toner is in a conductive state, the photoconductive toner in the light irradiated area (corresponding to the bright area of the document) is excited by exposure to light, and its charged polarity is erased.

Depending on the photoconductive toner used, the charge polarity may be reversed, and such toner may be used without any problem. Further, during exposure, a bias voltage having a polarity e opposite to that of the toner charge (2) may be applied to the base electrode 1, in which case the toner on the light irradiated portion is reversed to the opposite polarity θ.

On the other hand, the toner in the part that does not transmit light, which corresponds to the dark part of the original, remains with the polarity of ■. This toner with the polarity of
be flown upwards.

The bias potential applied to the counter electrode 2 is DO voltage v
This applies an AC voltage v2 containing one component.

This is a feature of the present invention.

Details regarding the voltage application means can be found in Japanese Patent Application No. 58-2069.
Reference may be made to the specification of No. 93.

In this way, by simultaneously applying OiE pressure v1, A, and Ot pressure v2 during flight, the charged toner particles have a difference in the charge 1 distribution on the base electrode 2.
It is vibrated by the above-mentioned AO voltage, and even if it is in an agglomerated or clustered state, the agglomeration is loosened and the cluster is collapsed. For this reason, toner particles are given a sufficient flying probability even if they have a small amount of charge, and all of the charged toner particles are likely to fly out to the counter electrode, so only the toner in the unexposed area is required. Moreover, it is possible to make a sufficient amount of the particles fly, and by the next transfer, it is possible to obtain, for example, a positive image of high quality, high density, and high image quality that faithfully corresponds to the original (positive) image.

Toner A that does not fly onto the counter electrode 2 moves onto the base electrode 1 and is scraped up by the blade 12.

For example, it is dropped into a reservoir and returned to the sprayer inlet.

Reused.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a transfer section, for example, as shown in the figure, the toner is charged with a charge θ having the opposite polarity to the paired toner charge charge ■, and the transfer section 14
A positive image can be obtained by transferring the image onto the image. After the transfer, fixing is performed as necessary to obtain a good image. Further, in order to obtain a negative image on the transfer material 14, the photoconductive toner remaining on the base electrode 1 may be transferred onto the transfer material 14.

As the photoconductive toner A used in the method of this embodiment, any known photoconductive toner can be used without any particular limitation.
No. 542, No. 53-82417, No. 56-30138
No. 56-30140, No. 56-30141, No. 56-30142, No. 58-130357, etc. can be used.

Further, the carrier may be either a conductive carrier or an insulating carrier, for example, iron powder or a core particle of iron powder with a triiron tetroxide coating formed on its surface, but is not particularly limited.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 16 indicates a cleaning section, 17 indicates a toner conveying roller, 18 indicates an agitator, and 19 indicates Mylar.

Above, the case where a two-component photoconductive toner is used in the present invention has been mainly described, but one-component photoconductive toner (magnetic toner, e.g., JP-A-56-301
It is clear that the present invention can also be carried out using the following publications: No. 50 and No. 56-64350. The -component type photoconductive toner may be either a conductive magnetic toner or an insulating magnetic toner. When scattering conductive magnetic toner onto the base electrode 1 with a magnetic brush, charges of opposite polarity to those on the base electrode are induced in the toner, and an electric attraction (Coulomb force) between this induced charge and the charge on the base electrode 1 occurs. overcomes magnetic attraction.

The toner is scattered (adhered) onto the base electrode 1 .

On the other hand, when insulating magnetic toner is used, the toner is charged by friction between the toners, and the toner charged to the opposite polarity to the charge on the base electrode 1 is attracted and adhered to the surface of the base electrode 10 and is dispersed. Note that when such a magnetic toner is used, the stirrer 1B, which is required in the case of a two-component system, is not required.

In the above examples, each of the three photoconductive toners was
It goes without saying that if toners of colors corresponding to the primary colors are selected and the three colors are scattered in a mosaic pattern, there is a possibility of colorization.

Although the embodiments in which the non-invention law is applied to electrophotography have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be applied to other recording methods other than electrophotography.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, a layer of photoconductive toner is formed on a base electrode in which a conductive support electrode, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layer are sequentially laminated, and the layer is charged, so that charge can escape. It prevents this and enables uniform charging. In addition, since an AC voltage containing a DC component is applied as a bias potential between the base electrode and the counter electrode when the toner flies after exposure, it is possible to fly only the necessary and sufficient amount of toner in the unexposed area, which makes it possible to improve the quality of the product. It is possible to obtain high-quality images.

In addition, in application examples 1 to 1 of the present invention, for example, the toner A on the base electrode 1'' is not exposed at the position shown in FIG. 1, but immediately after the toner is made to fly onto the counter electrode 2 (point P). Alternatively, it is naturally possible to perform exposure before transfer (point Q) (see the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 59-20829 and the drawings).

In this case, the toner in the unexposed area is transferred to the transfer material 14, and the untransferred toner is scraped off by the cleaning section 16 and reused as necessary.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram showing an embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 1 represents a base electrode, 2 represents a counter electrode, and 3 represents a sprayer. Patent applicant: Konishi Rokuman Shin Kogyo Co., Ltd. Agent: Nobuaki Sakaguchi (and one other person)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a recording method such as an electrophotographic method using a photoconductive toner, the photoconductive toner is layered with a carrier or a photoconductive magnetic toner on a sleeve, and the charged photoconductive toner on the sleeve is A conductive supporting electrode, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layer are sequentially laminated onto a base electrode to form a layer, and then charged, and the photoconductive toner on the base electrode is imagewise exposed to an unexposed layer. A recording method using photoconductive toner, characterized in that a toner image is obtained by applying an alternating current bias voltage containing a direct current component to make the toner fly onto a counter electrode.